Phantom Zone
| Distinguish = Phantom Zone | Universe = Earth-One; New Earth; Prime Earth; Sphere of the Gods | Galaxy = | StarSystem = | Planet = | Country = | City = | State = | Province = | Locale = | Dimensions = | Population = | First = Adventure Comics Vol 1 283 | Last = | Quotation = Another dimension. The ultimate purgatory of punishment and exile. A timeless sensory deprivation tank that, in time... will drive any prisoner mad. | Speaker = Eradicator | QuoteSource = Action Comics Vol 1 983 | HistoryText = The Phantom Zone is an interdimensional realm outside the normal space/time continuum. It is a barren and insubstantial null area absent of any physical material. There is only one native denizen to the Phantom Zone, the enigmatic and powerful entity known as the Aethyr. All cause and effect that occurs within the zone does so at Aethyr's capricious whim. People who travel into the negative zone are no longer corporeal and exist only as psychic phantasms of their true selves. Though their minds and personalities remain intact, they can no longer physically interact with any other being. This includes direct physical contact as well as the power of speech. Communication within the Phantom Zone is done so by telepathy. As the Phantom Zone exists outside of space/time, those within it are no longer subject to the rigors of age or illness, rendering them effectively immortal – and they also require no sleep, food or air. Many years ago, the penal system of the planet Krypton sentenced their criminals by placing them in suspended animation. The Kryptonian scientist Jor-El discovered the existence of the Phantom Zone and introduced it as an alternative means of imprisonment. He had little knowledge of the true inner workings of the zone, but believed that it was a more humane form of punishment over that which they had previously employed. He developed a projection device that could send people into and retrieve them from the zone with the simple flick of a black button and a white button respectively. The first prisoner to be exiled to the Phantom Zone was the renegade scientist Jax-Ur. Jax-Ur, a former colleague of Jor-El's, was responsible for the destruction of Krypton's moon Wegthor and the deaths of over five-hundred lunar colonists. Over a short expanse of time, the Kryptonian Science Council began exiling the worst of the planet's criminals into the zone, the most famous of which was the military insurrectionist General Zod. When Jor-El later discovered that Krypton was going to explode due to geological instability, he proposed bringing the entire population of Krypton into the zone. Jor-El never had the opportunity or approval to conduct such a plan, and ultimately everyone living on the planet Krypton died when it exploded. Those within the Phantom Zone survived however. It was years before they ever learned the truth about their homeworld's destruction. Several of the exiled criminals, now led by General Zod, found a means of escaping the zone and eventually came to Earth where they battled the "Last Son" of Krypton, Jor-El's son Kal-El. Occasionally, a Phantom Zoner who has completed their sentence is allowed to be released. One such example is Ak-Var, who was released by Superman and then joined his fellow Kryptonians in the Bottled City of Kandor . It was later revealed that the Phantom Zone is in fact the mythical "Underworld", home to the likes of Hades, Annwn, Erishkagal and Pluto. | PointsOfInterest = | Residents = Earth-One * Aethyr * Ak-Var * Az-Rel * Blak-Du * Doctor Xadu * Erndine Ze-Da * Faora Hu-Ul * Gazor * General Zod * Lor-Zod * Gra-Mo * Jax-Ur * Jer-Em * Khai-Zor * Kru-El * Lar-On * Mon-El * Lois Lane * Marok * Murkk * Nadira * Nam-Ek * Orn-Zu - * Professor Va-Kox * Quex-Ul * Ran-Zo * Roz-Em * Shyla Kor-Onn * Superman Revenge Squad ** Two Members * Superboy * Supergirl * Thul-Kar * Tor-An * Tyb-Ol * Zan-Ar * Zora Vi-Lar Mentioned inmates There were also some Kryptonians that were mentioned to have been imprisoned in the Phantom Zone as seen in the Phantom Zone mini-series. The mentioned Kryptonian Inmates include: * Ar-Ual * Bal-Gra * Cha-Mel * Kur-Dul * Ras-Krom * Tra-Gob * Vax-Nor * Vorb-Un * Vor-Kil New Earth * General Zod * Ursa * Non * Az-Rel * Car-Vex * Dev-Em * Faora * Prometheus * Jax-Ur * Nadira * Quex-Ul * Tor-An * Val-Ty The New 52 * Batgirl * Benjamin Rubel * General Zod * Cyborg Superman * Eradicator * Faora * Hades * Jax-Ur * Lor-Zod * Mongul * Non * Ras-Krom * Steel * Supergirl * Super-Man * Superman (Clark Kent) * Superman (Lex Luthor) * Superwoman * Ursa * Vak-Ox * Xa-Du All-Star Superman * Bar-El * Lilo Donnerverse * Non * Ursa * Zod Smallville * Faora * Zod * Raya * Clark Kent * Slade Wilson * Lois Lane * Kara Kent * Oliver Queen * Gloria * Aldar * Titan | Notes = * In the Richard Donner series of Superman movies which includes Supergirl, the Phantom Zone's gateway is depicted in the form of a rotating pane of glass, while the actual landscape is a desolate wasteland. Entry into the Phantom Zone is usually done by the gateway consuming its victims upon contact. * Jur-Ll, an otherdimensional criminal version of Jor-El, was banished into an otherdimensional version of Phantom Zone. It is revealed in 2006's that Jur-Ll came from Earth-Three. * There was no Phantom Zone on the Earth-Two dimension; criminal Kryptonians were banished in rocketships. * According to , the Phantom Zone is part of, or at least occupies a similar metaphysical space as, the Greek Underworld in the Sphere of the Gods. | Trivia = | Links = * }} fr:Zone Fantôme nl:Phantom Zone Category:Kryptonian Culture Category:Prisons Category:Dimensions Category:Sphere of the Gods Locations